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This edition of my Bug Out Bag Essentials Series will be a focus on compact calories. One of the most important aspects of any Bug Out Bag (BOB), Get Home Bag (GHB) or whatever you want to call your survival kit. In every kit, you have a very limited amount of space in which to get all of your necessary supplies in. This edition, Compact Calories, will hopefully give you a few ideas as to how to fit enough life sustaining calories into your survival gear to survive when the zombies attack.

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Meals Ready to Eat are the military’s version of combat food. These meals are relatively inexpensive, very calorie dense and have a shelf life that will outlive you according to some sources.

The MRE’s components look like the picture below:

And contain:

The military makes a few changes to the menus every year so you will find a different menu listing for each year. In general, though, each MRE contains the following:
• Entree - the main course, such as Spaghetti or Beef Stew
• Side dish - rice, corn, fruit, or mashed potatoes, etc.
• Cracker or Bread
• Spread - peanut butter, jelly, or cheese spread
• Dessert - cookies or pound cakes
• Candy - M&Ms, Skittles, or Tootsie Rolls
• Beverages - Gatorade-like drink mixes, cocoa, dairy shakes, coffee, tea
• Hot sauce or seasoning - in some MREs
• Flameless Ration Heater - to heat up the entree
• Accessories - spoon, matches, creamer, sugar, salt, chewing gum, toilet paper, etc.
Each MRE provides an average of 1,250 calories (13% protein, 36% fat, and 51% carbohydrates) and 1/3 of the Military Recommended Daily Allowance of vitamins and minerals. A full day’s worth of meals would consist of three MREs.

As you can see, MRE’s are an excellent option for any survivalist. That being said, they’re laden with lots of wasted space. Read below to figure out how to make this calorie rich food more compact.

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The below post was written by MisterFluffy and originally posted on the Zombie Squad Forums. This is an excellent example of how to reduce wasted space that comes from traditional packaging that conventional survival foods typically have. MisterFluffy wrote the below information, I’m simply the editor.

After reading through the Bugout gear posts, I’ve noticed that like me, a lot of you carry MREs. But I’ve noticed that an awful lot of people will just toss in a few of the big brown plastic packs and call it good.

Well, I don’t mean to talk down on anyone, but doing it that way is a waste of space (bulky), weight (trash), and time (opening up all the friggin’ layers of packaging). Not to mention it leaves an awful lot of trash to deal with, no good if you’re trying not to leave a trace. Why pack around or have to dispose of extra trash?

I thought that, since I was field stripping some fresh MREs today to replace the ones eaten on my last bugout exercise, I would take a few pictures to illustrate my point, as well as give some folks who’ve never seen inside an MRE an idea of what delicious wonders they hold.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Do not field-strip your MREs for long term storage. I neglected to mention this the first time through and forgot to realize that most people may not have received the same boring lecture and crappy handouts. The average shelf-life of a current generation MRE is 3-5 years when in its original packaging. When field stripped the shelf life decreases by approximately 50%. So DO NOT just let them sit around forever like this!

Here we have three MREs in their from-the-factory glory. I wish I’d taken a picture of them on their sides, as the Chicken and Salsa is a particularly bulky one.

This is the aforementioned Chicken and Salsa out of the brown plastic outer bag as well as the inner semi-shrinkwrap bag. Notice the brown boxes? Yeah, those have gotta go. Ditto the extra plastic all over everything. Also, since when were Reese’s Pieces ever included!? Freakin sweet, I hate M&Ms.

Note: If you need to know the ingredients of your food, now is a good time to write them down. The only place they’re listed is on the brown cardboard, so if food allergies for you or a partner are an issue, make note now.

Here are the rest of the MREs (three total) taken out of the two sets of outer wrapping and brown cardboard sleeves. The drink mixes, crap pouches (Tabasco, TP, salt, etc) and spoons have been separated at the bottom. The top row is all of the food items, to include BBQ sauce. Calories are calories.

This is what’s left of all the crap in the bottom row of the last picture. I took two spoons, the toilet paper, a couple matchbooks, a Tabasco, and the salt. Threw out everything else (the drink mixes are crap, ditto everything else). Threw out the water-activated MRE heaters, too. They taste the same hot or cold, and the water necessary to heat your meal would be better used to stay hydrated. Then I put the “keepers” into one of the drink mixing pouches.

Note: Never, ever try to actually mix the drink powders in that stupid bag. You will not be able to drink without spilling it, it will probably leak while you’re shaking it, and you will look like a dumbass during the whole process. They’re useful as little plastic baggies, otherwise.

This is the final pile - just about everything edible. The best part of doing this is that you can easily separate out the types of food. If you’re the type that likes an LBV, throwing the candy and crackers/cheese/jelly into your vest, or even an easy outside pouch on your pack, makes a decent way to access a quick bite without digging out the whole pack. And it makes things a hell of a lot easier to deal with in the dark. The various pouches and types of food have very, very distinctive feels to them.

And now, the money shot. On the left is the entire useful contents of three MREs, packed into ONE outer bag, just for reference on the space savings we’re talking here. And on the right is all of the crap you don’t have to deal with anymore:

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Here are some more food options that I’ve written about in the past that are great ways to get compact calories in your survival systems.

Mainstay Emergency Rations

Mainstay rations are what I consider to be one of the ‘perfect’ bug out foods. These rations are impervious to heat and cold, have a 5 year shelf life and don’t make you thirsty while eating them. Each bar, which is roughly the size of a standard paperback book, contains 3600 calories which is enough to sustain an adult at a moderate level of activity for 3 days.

Mainstay’s Website Writes:
• 5 year Shelf Life
• Non-Thirst Provoking
• Withstands Temperatures of -40°F to 300°F (-40°C to 149°C)
• Ready to Eat: Each package contains 9 pre-measured 400 calorie meals.
• Individualized Portions eliminate the messy breaking-up that occurs with other bars.
• Allows for on-land emergency consumption in a high-stress active situation.
• Contains no cholesterol or tropical oils.
• Meets the US Coast Guard standards (160.046/23/0). It’s new modern packaging even meets the stringent guidelines set by the Department of Defense (SOLAS 74/83).
• Enriched with vitamins and minerals exceeding the RDA requirements.
• Pleasant lemon flavor which appeals to old and young alike.

I personally carry 4 mainstay bricks in my main bug out bag and tend to stash one or two away in every Bug Out Bag/Get Home Bag/Truck Bag I own.
An excellent review on the Mainstay Rations of JRod
Discussion of Mainstay vs Mayday Ration Bars
Iridellamas’s BOB containing mainstay rations

WHERE TO BUY

SURVIVAL UNLIMITED
EBAY
AMAZON
BRIGADE QUARTERMASTERS
SURVIVOR INDUSTRIES

Datrex Emergency Food Rations

Some individuals don’t like the lemony flavor of the Mainstay rations and would prefer something more palatable. For them, a good option might be the Datrex Emergency Food Ration.

Datrex Food Ration Bar Specs:

* Provides 3600 Calories (18 - 200 calories per bar)
* High Energy Value
* Made to be Non-Thirst provoking
* Pleasant cookie taste
* Small and lightweight
* Non affected by high heat or freezing cold (think,
car trunk emergency kit or cruise ship lifeboat in Alaska)
* All natural ingredients
* Vacuume sealed packaging locks in flavor
* Tabletized bars make for
easier rationing and dispersing
* No cooking or heating needed
Eat straight from the package
* Minimum 5 year shelf-life
* U.S. Coast Guard Approved
* Canadian Coat Guard Approved
* EC World Coast Guard Lifeboat Approved

Nutritional Information: Each bar contains 200 calories, 3gm of protein, 21gm of carbohydrate, and .75mg of sodium. Total fat is 10gm, saturated fat is 2gm, mono-unsaturated fat is 7gm, and poly-unsaturated fat is 1gm. Cholesterol is .378mg. Additionally, each bar contains Vitamin A and C, plus Thiamine, Riboflavin, and Niacin. [/quote]

Red Cross/Home Depot Pre-Made BOB featuring Datrex rations

General Food Bar Discussion

WHERE TO BUY

Nitro-pak.com
CampingSurvival.com
Preptek.com
Google Product Search

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Here are a few other calorie dense foods that pack up small in your BOB.

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This edition the BOB Essentials Series was just a brief glimpse into how to properly prepare your BOB’s food supplies. For a more in depth view of BOB foods, feel free to visit the Zombie Squad Forum’s Bug Out Bag section by Clicking This Link Thanks for reading.